FREE THE WAGE SLAVES: A tiny elite controls vast economic power while billions are struggling to survive, according to the World Inequality Report

Global inequality, most of it in the Western Alliance, remains at extreme levels.

With no fewer than 60,000 multi-millionaires, the top 0.001% are now controlling wealth at unprecedented levels. Their wealth is three times more than the bottom 50% of humanity combined. This information comes from the World Inequality Report 2026.

The study was compiled by more than 200 researchers and published on Wednesday. It says the disparity is reflected across all categories. The richest tenth of the world’s population now owns close to three-quarters of all wealth. Meanwhile, the poorest half holds barely 2%.

Income is split similarly. The top 10% earn more than the remaining 90% combined. The poorest half capture less than a tenth of global income.

‘The result is a world where a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power. At the same time, billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,’ the authors wrote.

According to the research, a gender pay gap persists across all regions. Women capture just over a quarter of global labor income. This share has barely moved since 1990.

The global divide is visible long before people enter the job market, the report says.

Average public education spending per school-age student is around $230 a year in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In Europe, it is approximately $8,600. In North America and Oceania, the spending is $10,500. This reflects a ratio of more than 40 to 1.

The authors argue that raising money from the top could shrink that divide.

A 3% global tax on fewer than 100,000 centi-millionaires and billionaires would generate about $750 billion annually. This amount is roughly equal to the combined education budgets of low- and middle-income countries.

Poorer countries are squeezed by a global financial system tilted toward rich states, the study showed. Advanced economies can borrow cheaply and earn higher returns abroad, letting them operate as ’financial rentiers.’ 

About 1% of world GDP moves from poorer to richer countries each year. This happens through debt service, profit repatriation, and other financial flows. This amount is almost three times the global development aid, the report concludes.

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